Henry Every, the King of Pirates

You might not know the name Henry Every, but he was the pirate who made sailors want to be pirates. He gave the occupation its romantic aura because in 1695 he pulled off the most lucrative act of piracy in history, and then got away with it.

Every went from a career in the Royal Navy to employment as a captain in the slave trade. His life of piracy began when he was first mate on a Spanish expedition that involved raiding French ships. Paperwork stranded his ship and crew for months, and they were not paid, and so finally mutinied, taking the ship off to a life of plunder. Every was a talented leader of the pirates. Each ship they raided brought more and more men onto his fold, which tells us how well governments and trading companies treated their sailors.

Every built a fleet and allied with other pirates, and set upon a Mughal fleet that included the Ganj-i-Sawai, Emperor Aurangzeb's treasure ship laden with gold, silver, gems, and women slaves. The estimated take was between £325,000 and £600,000, a lot of money in 1695, which was the largest pirate plunder in history. That led to giving Every another distinction, as the first target of a global manhunt. Every's exploits ended up in newspapers, songs, literary works, and plays, giving piracy an exciting and romantic reputation. Read what Henry Every did to establish the Golden Age of Piracy at Amusing Planet.